Desprite Measures by Deborah Jay

Living mostly on the UK South coast, she has already invested in her ultimate retirement plan – a farmhouse in the majestic, mystery-filled Scottish Highlands where she retreats to write when she can find time. Her taste for the good things in life is kept in check by the expense of keeping too many dressage horses, and her complete inability to cook.

Her debut novel, epic fantasy THE PRINCE’S MAN, first in a trilogy and winner of a UK Arts Board award, was published in July 2013, with THE PRINCE’S SON due out summer 2014.

Urban fantasy, DESPRITE MEASURES, is the opening novel of the five book CALEDONIAN SPRITE SERIES.

She also has non-fiction equestrian titles published in her professional name of Debby Lush.

On the surface she's a cute and feisty blonde, a slender pocket rocket fitness coach. But Cassiopeia Lake has a secret; she's really a force of nature – an elemental.

Water sprite, Cassie, has lived undisturbed in her native Scottish loch for eons. Now, one encounter too many with modern plumbing has driven her to live in human guise along with her selkie boyfriend, Euan. It’s all going fine - until a nerdy magician captures Cassie to be an unwilling component in his crazy dangerous experiment.

Escape is only Cassie’s first challenge.

She’s smitten by her fellow prisoner, the scorching hot fire elemental, Gloria. But how do you love someone you can never touch?

And what do you do when your boyfriend starts to hero-worship your persecutor? Not to mention that tricky situation of being the prize in a power contest between two rival covens of witches.

So when Gloria’s temper erupts and she sets out to murder the magician, can Cassie keep her loved ones safe from the cross-fire, or will she be sucked into the maelstrom of deadly desires and sink without trace?Buy link

Q) What inspired you to write this story?
I started reading Urban Fantasy books relatively recently. Until then I’d been a diehard Epic fan and I wasn’t sure I was going to like fantasy in a contemporary setting. I was wrong. I still love my Epics, but there is something so much sharper about Urban, both in the storylines and in the style, and I wanted to try it out and see if I would enjoy adapting my writing to the genre.

And the verdict? Hell, yes!

Q) How long did it take you to write?
About 2 years. It took that long because I never do just one thing at a time. I was also writing another Epic fantasy and keeping up with my equestrian magazine articles, not to mention running my own horse training business!

Q) What is your favorite thing about writing?
The total freedom to make it all up. Even if I’m writing about character types that exist in someone else’s world, I’m putting my own stamp on them. And with fantasy, I can let my imagination run riot and create whatever setting, rules of physics, rules of magic, animals etc. that I want.

Q) What is your least favorite thing about writing?
How long it takes! I’m quite fast on a keyboard, and I love both writing and editing, but it all takes too long – I struggle to keep up with the stories spewing out of my brain.

Q) If you could be any famous person for one day, who would you be and why?
Charlotte Dujardin – she won the gold medal for dressage at the London 2012 Olympics. As a pro dressage rider (when I’m not writing), I would love to know what it feels like to ride such an amazing horse as Valegro, and to win that Olympic gold.

Q) What is the oldest thing in your fridge and how old is it?
There’s nothing old in my fridge, because there’s really nothing in my fridge! I’m a hopeless cook and I live off frozen meals and fresh veg.

Q) What can readers expect from you in the future?
Lots more books in each of the series I’ve started – I already have several roughed out in both, and lots more ideas. Sometimes a minor character suddenly demands their own story, so it won’t always be the same central characters, but there’s plenty more to come.